August 11, 2003 | Volume 99, Issue 6

The Longhorns have been fighting among themselves in the off-season—and that may be the key to their success

2002 RECORD11-2 (6-2, T1 in Big 12 South)

WRRoy Williams (Sr.)Has school-record 34-game reception streak

246Yards Roy Williams needs to break Mike Adams's Texas receiving mark (3,032 yards); he's also six shy of Adams's reception record (177).

Mack Brown rearranged his staff to strengthen a running game that averaged a mere 3.4 yards per carry, a 16-year low for the Longhorns. Perfectionist tackles-tight ends coach Mac McWhorter now is...

After a troubling off-season, the Dawgs would be smart to follow the lead of their top defender, David Pollack

2002 RECORD13-1 (7-1, 1st in SEC East)

QBDavid Greene (Jr.)Led SEC in passing efficiency (137.3)

21Wins for coach Mark Richt since he arrived in Athens in 2001, the most by any Bulldogs coach in his first two seasons.

To fill the gaping hole left by the departure of strongside linebacker Boss Bailey to the NFL, defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder looked for an athlete who could emulate Bailey's big-play...

For the Hokies, one way to go all the way is to ride a player like speedy DeAngelo Hall, who can go two ways

2002 RECORD10-4 (3-4, T4 in Big East)

RBKevin Jones (Jr.)871 yards and nine TDs as a backup

8Consecutive seasons in which Virginia Tech has had at least one shutout; the Hokies have blanked opponents 16 times in that span.

The Hokies are deftly managing the quarterback battle between junior Bryan Randall and freshman Marcus Vick, defusing media speculation by stressing that Randall will enter the season as the...

The Wildcats are counting on a wiser Ell Roberson to lead them to their first Big 12 title—and maybe more

2002 RECORD11-2 (6-2, 2nd in Big 12 North)

RBDarren Sproles (Jr.)Gained a school-record 1,800 all-purpose yards

194.6Differential between per-game rushing yards gained (264.1) and allowed (69.5) by the Wildcats last season, highest in the nation.

When passing-game coordinator Greg Peterson was rumored to be going to Nebraska, Bill Snyder promoted him to co-offensive coordinator.

Quarterback Philip Rivers has embraced married life, fatherhood and the lead role in his team's title bid

2002 RECORD11-3 (5-3, 4th in ACC)

QBPhilip Rivers (Sr.)Threw for 3,353 yards and 20 TDs

1Rank of tailback T.A. McLendon, in freshman TDs (18) last year; Ohio State's Maurice Clarett was second with 16.

Sometimes the smartest move is standing pat. New offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone's instructions were: Don't change a thing. The Wolfpack led the ACC in scoring (32.9 points per game) and were...

Stocked in the backfield and stacked on defense, the Tigers are primed to climb in the SEC West

2002 RECORD9-4 (5-3, TI in SEC West)

LBKarlos Dansby (Sr.)All-SEC first-teamer had 75 tackles, four sacks

6Straight games in which Carnell Williams rushed for a TD, the first Tiger to do so. The streak ended when he broke his leg on Oct. 19.

Coach Tommy Tuberville's decision to elevate offensive line coach Hugh Nail to offensive coordinator was the right call. An assistant to Tuberville for eight years at Ole Miss and Auburn, Nail...

Though their Heisman winner is gone, the Trojans have plenty of weapons left to make a run at the Pac-10 crown

2002 RECORD11-2 (7-1, T1 in Pac-10)

LBMatt Grootegoed (Jr.)Team-high 81 tackles (16½ for loss)

+34Trojans' turnover differential (71 interceptions and fumble recoveries, 37 turnovers) for the last two years, best in the nation.

To help make up for the loss of fleet-footed receiver Kareem Kelly, who was drafted by the New Orleans Saints, coach Pete Carroll moved speedy 5'10" sophomore corner Justin Wyatt to wideout, one...

After a decade of ACC dominance, it's gut-check time in Tallahassee for the suddenly struggling Seminoles

2002 RECORD9-5 (7-1, 1st in ACC)

QBChris Rix (Jr.)Needs to display maturity and consistency

9Combined losses in 2001 and 2002, highest total in back-to-back seasons in Bobby Bowden's 27 years in Tallahassee.

After a messy year of suspensions and scandals, university president T.K. Wetherell ordered an independent investigation of the athletic department. Leadership and discipline have been Bobby...

Coach Walt Harris's explosive West Coast attack has the resurgent Panthers on the prowl again in the Big East

2002 RECORD9-4 (5-2, 3rd in Big East)

WRLarry Fitzgerald (Soph.)Pitt freshman marks for catches, yards, TDs

72Points scored by Larry Fitzgerald on 12 TDs, making him first true freshman (besides kickers) to lead Pitt since Tony Dorsett in 73.

With linebackers coach David Blackwell off to Clemson and only one experienced player back, the Panthers turned to former Pitt linebacker Curtis Bray to coach the unit. He has already proved...

Behind quarterback John Navarre, Big Blue goes for big air as it looks to reassert itself in the Big Ten

2002 RECORD11-2 (6-2, third in Big Ten)

QBJohn Navarre (Sr.)48 career TDs, tied for second at Michigan

160.1John Navarre's career per-game passing yardage, third highest at Michigan behind Jim Harbaugh (175.8) and Tom Brady (172.6).

Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr rewarded receiver Braylon Edwards for his breakout '02 season (67 catches, 1,035 yards, 10 TDs) by giving him the number 1 jersey formerly worn by All-Americas Anthony...

The Neuheisel fiasco overshadows an offensive juggernaut led by receiver Reggie Williams and passer Cody Pickett

2002 RECORD7-6 (4-4, T4 in Pac-10)

QBCody Pickett (Sr.)Threw for 516 more yards than Carson Palmer

968Team rushing yards last season, the first time Washington failed to reach 1,000 since 1939, when the Huskies had 906 in nine games.

Confident that senior Greg Carothers has the quickness and strength to rush the passer as well as the speed and instincts to drop into pass coverage, the Huskies shifted him from starting strong...

A young team with experience counts on senior passer Matt Schaub to lead it to the ACC championship

2002 RECORD9-5 (6-2, T2 in ACC)

QBMatt Schaub (Sr.)147.5 passer rating ranked sixth in the nation

357.1Yards per game of total offense generated by the Cavaliers last season, the lowest average in the ACC and 80th in the nation.

Shifting sophomore QB Marques Hagans to WR solves two problems: It gives the Cavaliers an added replacement for the graduated Billy McMullen and gets Hagans, a superior athlete, off the bench....

The Volunteers are ready for a return to basics thanks to a tough off-season regimen that was anything but voluntary

2002 RECORD8-5 (5-3, 3rd in SEC East)

QBCasey Clausen (Sr.)Perfect 9-0 as starter in enemy stadiums

.778Winning percentage (49-14) from 1998 to 2002 for the Vols, best of any SEC school over that span. Florida is second at .746 (47-16).

Though Tennessee is known as Wide Receiver U, big aerial plays were sorely lacking last fall. In response, the Vols moved 5'9", 185-pound senior Mark Jones, who was recruited as a receiver but had...

The task of living up to last season's promise will be made easier by the Irish's stingy, ball-hawking defense

2002 RECORD10-3

QBCarlyle Holiday (Jr.)Completed only 50.2% of his pass attempts

7Players with 1,000-yard rushing seasons in Notre Dame history, including Ryan Grant, who had 1,085 as a sophomore in '02.

To fortify the depth chart and add variety on defense, Irish coaches will use some starters as backups at other positions. This spring outside linebacker Derek Curry learned to man the middle, and...

A healthy running back and a seasoned quarterback make the Terrapins' offense formidable again

2002 RECORD11-3 (6-2, T2 in ACC)

QBScott McBrien (Sr.)12th in the nation in passing efficiency

4Punt returns for TDs by Steve Suter last season, breaking the Terps' career record of three set by Bob Smith (1972 through '74).

Coach Ralph Friedgen didn't lack for volunteers to fill the shoes of departed All-America linebacker E.J. Henderson, but sophomore D'Qwell Jackson quickly proved he was the best fit. Though he's...

The traditionally ground-bound Badgers are ready to add some pizzazz by airing the ball out on offense

2002 RECORD8-6 (2-6, T8 in Big Ten)

RBAnthony Davis (Jr.)Had nation's best 3,021 rushing yards in '01-02

10Years in a row that Badgers have had 1,000-yard rusher, two short of NCAA record set by North Carolina from 1973 to '84.

After Lee Evans tore his ACL in 2002's Red and White game, coach Barry Alvarez took no chances this year. Evans was held out of the April game, and the rest of the first-string skill guys played...

With former minor leaguer Matt Mauck back and throwing strikes, the Tigers will contend in the SEC West

2002 RECORD8-5 (5-3, T1 in SEC West)

WRMichael Clayton (Jr.)First Tiger with 700 rec. yards in first two years

7-2LSU's record in the nine games in which quarterback Matt Mauck has appeared; last year the Tigers lost just once when he played.

LSU's gleaming new $12 million Academic Center for Student-Athletes helped reel in a consensus top-three class last February. "If a guy who's an average student sees he's going to get the best...

Program-builder Dennis Franchione has plenty of tools on hand—beginning with an explosive sophomore QB

2002 RECORD6-6 (3-5, 5th in Big 12 South)

QBReggie McNeal (Soph.)Should be ready after June hernia surgery

268.0Aggies' passing yards per game in '02, breaking the school mark of 244.6 set in '86; total passing yards (3,216) was also a school record.

New coach Dennis Franchione has installed the A-back position (a running back-receiver hybrid) that he used effectively in the Alabama offense—last year A-back Shaud Williams accounted for 921...

A playmaking defender who's part corner and part linebacker has the Sun Devils stalking the Pac-10

2002 RECORD8-6 (5-3, T3 in Pac-10)

QBAndrew Walter (Jr.)First 3,000-yard passer in Sun Devils history

4Games last year in which Andrew Walter threw for more than 400 yards, most ever in a single season by a Pac-10 quarterback.

To bolster a thin tackle corps, Regis Crawford played left tackle last year. But for his senior season the 6'3", 304-pound Crawford has been shifted back to right guard, his natural spot. That...

Two years removed from a Pac-10 championship, the Ducks look to plug the holes that sank the D last season

2002 RECORD7-6 (3-5, 8th in Pac-10)

FSKeith Lewis (Sr.)Thorpe candidate has eight career INTs

28-1Record in coach Mike Bellotti's eight-year tenure in games in which the Ducks held opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing.

Oregon's new uniforms include an optional cooling vest that players can wear under their jerseys. The high-tech product, new to the market, is filled with air from a compressor on the sideline....

The Nittany Lions will be scrambling to fill the gap in the attack left by 2,000-yard running back Larry Johnson

2002 RECORD9-4 (5-3, 4th in Big Ten)

LBGino Capone (Sr.)Made 86 tackles despite missing three games

1,784Passing yards Zack Mills needs to pass Tony Sacca as Penn State's alltime leader. Mills enters 2003 sixth in Nittany Lions history.

Sophomore Charles Rush, a defensive line backup last year, is poised to join the 0-line, which lost four senior starters. At 6'2" and 298 pounds, Rush could have an immediate impact. "He wasn't in...

There's a new winning spirit running deep in Stillwater, thanks largely to all-world receiver Rashaun Woods

2002 RECORD8-5 (T3 in Big 12 South)

WRRashaun Woods (Sr.)Enters season with 3,047 career receiving yards

2Consecutive victories by the Cowboys over Oklahoma. They go for three straight—something they've never done—on Nov. 1.

Former walk-on Matt Hardison saw limited action in 2002 as a backup tight end. But after gaining 50 pounds over the winter Hardison, a senior, switched to left tackle and dominated as a run...

TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOWAir Force and Cal will look to crack the rankings after flirting with the Top 25 last season.

Fabulous 50sRichard Hoffer's brilliant essay (1954, July 14-21) combined with SI's plan to highlight sports in each of the 50 states remind me why I have been an avid reader since 1960. It is...

LETTERS•Please e-mail us at letters@si.timeinc.com or fax us at 212-467-4049. Letters should include the writer's full name, address and home telephone number and may be edited for clarity and space.

GRAMBLINGEugene generates nearly 400 yards of total offense per game.

Baseball

Trading DayAmid a flurry of deals, New York and Boston prepared for a pennant race

During the off-season Bo Hart was stocking women's shoes at a Nordstrom in Scottsdale, Ariz. Now the 26-year-old rookie is the Cardinals' starting second baseman and has been an important spark...

DEALS AND STEALS

Upsets of Funny Cide and Empire Maker left the 3-year-old division in disarray as the Travers loomed

End GameSteelers linebacker Kendrell Bell is learning the tricks of a new position

Tight end L.J. Smith, a second-round draft choice of the Eagles whose Rutgers teams won only seven games, has caught everything in sight at camp and looked impressive working with Philadelphia's...

Thank God for the NCAA. Without it, college sports would have more thugs than a Snoop Dogg video.

The central idea for this week's College Football Preview began to take shape last spring when associate editor B.J. Schecter and special contributor John Ed Bradley, LSU's starting center in 1979...

SEPTEMBER 15, 1969

The earth had become an abomination to God, and displeased was He with the designated-hitter rule, and Who Let the Dogs Out and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. And so the Lord said, "All the creatures...

Recent events show folks are still flunking Remedial Ethics. A pop quiz

1. True, it followed a free throw drill in which a piece of clothing was shed after each miss.2. b. That was Clarett's teammate, Chris Gamble.3. c. It appeared in the same day's The Columbian...

Neuheisel question: 1-c; 2-d; 3-a; 4-b.Denial question: 1-c; 2-a; 3-d; 4-b.

Ferdinand's death shows why thoroughbred activists fear for horses abroad

$82.8 millionSalary of the Yankees' starting lineup for their July 20 game against the Indians.

CrossedThe English Channel, Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner, flying with carbon fiber wings and a parachute strapped to his back. Last Friday morning the 34-year-old from Salzburg jumped out...

Entered

I feel so foolish. I thought voters in California were trying to recall Al Davis.

The syndicated radio host, 52, will appear weekly on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown starting on Sept. 7.

AUG. 8-14

James's Games, Sister, Where Art Thou?

Kobe Bryant attended the Teen Choice Awards in Universal City, Calif., last Saturday night, a rare public appearance since he was charged with the sexual assault of a 19-year-old Colorado woman on...

Robert Flowers, a security chief at the 2002 Winter Olympics, had his pocket picked while in a similar capacity at the Moscow-Utah Youth Games in Russia.

Two wrestlers in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, grapple while trying not to incur the wrath of Khan, or the ire of the three punctilious judges dressed in traditional Mongolian garb, a la Genghis Khan....

KERRY COLLINSGiants quarterback, on the mental part of his game: "I try to stay out of my own way. I Sometimes going inside my head is like going behind enemy lines."

Ashley Birdsong, OTIS, ORE.SoftballAshley, a junior righthander at Taft High, pitched eight perfect games this season, tying the national high school record. She led the Tigers with a 22-1 record...

At the SHOW-ME STATE GAMES in Columbia, some 28,000 athletes compete in 35 sports

From Yogi to Dizzy to Satchel, Missourians have always provided pearls of wisdom

Missourians weigh in on sports*

To see a gallery of every Cardinals cover, read archival SI stories from the 1985 World Series and the 2000 Super Bowl, or submit a Show-Me State sports memory, go to...

To sign up for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's free subscriber-only e-mail newsletter, go to sicustomerservice.com/siextra.

New power supply: See a blueprint for how former bystanders Virginia Tech and N.C. State joined college football's elite at si.com/football/college/2003/preview.

In a shrewd move with giant playoff implications, San Francisco snared the best available pitcher, Sidney Ponson, to fortify a starting staff full of surprises

Rookie Rich Harden has given the A's another mighty arm

Bonds Away!Giants leftfielder Barry Bonds, who leads the majors in home runs and is rapidly closing in on the career home run total of Willie Mays (660), looked like a tough out even while...

Tim Howard, a 24-year-old from New Jersey, could be the first American to start in goal for world powerhouse Manchester United

New Redskins wideout Laveranues Coles has a fat $35 million deal, plus plenty of incentive to prove skeptics—and his former employer—wrong

It's the muscle inside the helmet and beneath the headset that counts most

Craig Krenzel, national champion quarterback and molecular genetics major, wields the most imposing weapon in the game

A gutsy fourth-down play hinged on instant analysis and reaction

Plotting, scheming and motivating behind the scenes, these sideline sages are the best at preparing their teams

Miami puts its defensive fortune in the hands of middle linebacker and finance student Jonathan Vilma

For players like Jonathan Vilma—a finance major, with a minor in management, and captain of the Miami defense—college indulgences such as sleeping in and hanging out with buddies don't fit into...

How all that studying during the week pays off when Saturday comes

They may look like big, slow brutes to the casual fan, but offensive linemen are proving, on and off the field, that they possess uncommon intellect

T, LSU, SeniorMajor: AccountingGPA: 3.94

C, Penn State, SeniorMajor: Information Sciences and TechnologyGPA: 3.65

T, Iowa, SeniorMajor: Elementary EducationGPA: 3.22

T, Kentucky, SeniorMajor: Music EducationGPA: 2.75

G, Ball State, SeniorMajor: PhysicsGPA: 3.99

HEISMAN WATCH

THE TOP 25

For more conference and team previews, bowl projections and position rankings, plus a special package on college football's changing power structure, go to si.com/football/college.

With a no-frills coach and an offense that has every starter back, the Buckeyes have what it takes to repeat

2002 RECORD14-0 (8-0, T1 in Big Ten)

RBMaurice Clarett (Soph.)Set slew of OSU freshman rushing records

59Years since a Buckeyes freshman had started the season opener at running back (1943), until Maurice Clarett did it in 2002.

In June, Ohio State signed coach Jim Tressel to a six-year contract that runs through the 2008 season. The show of faith was well deserved. Not only does Tressel get the most out of his players,...

The Sooners shoot for the Sugar Bowl with a quarterback on a mission and their familiar devastating defense

2002 RECORD12-2 (6-2, TI Big 12 South)

LBTeddy Lehman (Sr.)Defensive player of the year in '02

82Interceptions by the Sooners since 1999, most in the nation over that span; Oklahoma and Virginia Tech led the country in '02, with 24 each.

As Texas A&M's offensive coordinator last season Kevin Sumlin orchestrated the Aggies' 30-26 upset of the Sooners in November. The loss clearly made an impression on Bob Stoops, who hired...

While the Hurricanes are still loaded, their hopes for a second title in three years rest with some untested players

2002 RECORD12-1 (7-0,1st in Big East)

TEKellen Winslow (Jr.)Team-high 57 catches for 726 yards, eight TDs

32Consecutive regular-season wins for Miami dating to Sept. 23, 2000. Four more would tie the school record of 36 (1985-88).

Sophomore Eric Winston was a promising tight end, but his coaches believe he can become a great left tackle. With All-America Kellen Winslow and talented backup Kevin Everett manning the tight end...